The myths are followed by a few parables and fables, forms of stories which from the earliest times have been used to apply some well-established principle of morals to practical conduct.
Next follow legends, where we are called upon to separate the probable from the improbable, the true from the false. Herodotus, the father of history, wrote his account of the "Persian Empire" several hundred years after the events took place which he has recorded. The stories had been preserved to his day by tradition.
In the traditional stories and in the truer records which follow, the pupil will see the play of the same emotions and passions which actuate men at the present time, and the careers of the great conquerors, Frederic and Napoleon, differ little essentially from those of Alexander and Cæsar. Tyranny remains the same forever, encroaching upon human liberty and limiting the field of human conduct. It will be seen also that from the state of barbarism there has been a gradual evolution which more and more places men under the protection of equal laws.
These books are to be used mainly for the stories they contain. By a simple reproduction in speech or in writing, we have the best possible language lesson. The value of the books may be entirely lost by catechisms which demand the literal reproduction of the text.
CONTENTS.
| MYTHS. | ||
| PAGE | ||
| I. | Arion | [7] |
| II. | Arachne | [12] |
| III. | Polyphemus | [15] |
| IV. | Ulysses's Return | [17] |
| V. | Thor's Visit to Jotunheim | [20] |
| PARABLES AND FABLES. | ||
| VI. | The Wolf and the Dog | [24] |
| VII. | Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard | [26] |
| VIII. | Parable of the Sower and the Seed | [28] |
| IX. | Pairing-Time anticipated | [30] |
| LEGENDS. | ||
| X. | The Gift of Tritemius | [33] |
| XI. | Damon and Pythias | [36] |
| XII. | King Canute | [40] |
| XIII. | A Norseman's Sword | [43] |
| IV. | The Story of King Alfred and St. Cuthbert | [46] |
| XV. | A Roland for an Oliver | [49] |
| XVI. | The Legend of Macbeth | [52] |
| OLD BALLADS. | ||
| XVII. | Chevy-Chase | [59] |
| XVIII. | Valentine and Ursine | [65] |
| EARLY EASTERN RECORD. | ||
| XIX. | Sennacherib | [71] |
| XX. | Glaucon | [75] |
| XXI. | Cyrus and his Grandfather | [80] |
| XXII. | Cyrus and the Armenians | [83] |
| XXIII. | The Macedonian Empire | [90] |
| XXIV. | Alexander's Conquests | [98] |
| XXV. | Judas Maccabæus, the Hebrew William Tell | [106] |
| ROMAN RECORD. | ||
| XXVI. | Tarquin the Wicked | [117] |
| XXVII. | The Roman Republic | [127] |
| XXVIII. | Cincinnatus | [137] |
| XXIX. | The Roman Father | [141] |
| XXX. | Archimedes | [150] |
| XXXI. | The Death of Cæsar | [154] |
| XXXII. | How Romans lived | [161] |
| MEDIÆVAL RECORD. | ||
| XXXIII. | Conversion of the English | [169] |
| XXXIV. | Leo the Slave | [173] |
| XXXV. | The Moors in Spain | [179] |
| XXXVI. | Charlemagne | [183] |
| WESTERN RECORD. | ||
| XXXVII. | The Norsemen | [191] |
| XXXVIII. | Rolf the Ganger | [200] |
| XXXIX. | The True Story of Macbeth | [206] |
| XL. | Duke William of Normandy | [211] |
| XLI. | The Norman Conquest | [217] |
| XLII. | King Richard Cœur de Lion in the Holy Land | [224] |
| XLIII. | King John and the Charter | [230] |
| XLIV. | An Early Election to Parliament | [237] |
| XLV. | The Battle of Cressy | [245] |
| XLVI. | The Battle of Agincourt | [251] |